Dear NGO

You may be aware that the Secretary General of the United Nations has commissioned a global study on violence against children. For more information about the Study, we suggest that you look at the following web pages:
• www.unhchr.ch/html/menu2/6/crc/study.htm
• www.crin.org/violence/

An essential aspect of the data gathering for the study is a series of Regional Consultations, within 9 different regions. The time-table for these Regional Consultations is:

West and Central Africa 23-25 May 2005 (TBC) Host: Mali ?(to be confirmed)
East and Southern Africa 6- 8 June, 2005 – Under 18 Forum
9 – 10 June Host: Johannesburg, South Africa
Middle East and North Africa 27-29 June, 2005 Host: Egypt (Cairo)

As you can see from the above, the Eastern and Southern African Regional Consultation is scheduled for early June. It is anticipated that each country in the region will send a delegation comprising government, NGO and child participants.

As a first step to ensuring meaningful NGO participation in the region, a pack of information has been compiled for your attention and information. This pack comprises the following:
- the Concept Paper for the Study
- a plain language description of the Study and its history;
- Concept Note for the Expert Roundtable planned for March;
- Concept Note for the participation of under-18s in the Regional Consultation;
- progress to date;
- plans for the ESAR Consultation;
- contact details of members of the Regional Steering Committee;
- the process of selection of NGO representatives.
Useful contact people are the three NGO Advisory Panel members in the region:
• Carol Bower - [email protected]
• Milly Odihiambo - [email protected]
• Washiela Sait - [email protected]

The information pack can be sent to you electronically – contact Carol Bower at [email protected]. Hard copies are available from your local UNICEF office. Where there are in-country offices of the International Save Alliance, they will also have hard copies of the documentation.

The Chairperson of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, in motivating for the Study to the Secretary General, clarified that it “should lead to the development of strategies aimed at effectively preventing and combating all forms of violence against children, outlining steps to be taken at the international level and by States to provide effective prevention, protection, intervention, treatment, recovery and reintegration” (A/56/488, annex). For this vision for the Study to become a reality, the involvement of and inputs from the NGO community in each country is critical.

We urge you to begin discussions in your own organisations and networks about the Study and the Regional Consultation, and to let us know who will be attending the Regional Consultation.

Regular information and updates will be circulated via in-country UNICEF offices. Please feel free to contact any of the members of the NGO Advisory Panel in the region for further information or clarification.

Sincerely

CAROL BOWER
Executive Director: Resources Aimed at the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect (RAPCAN), South Africa
Member: NGO Advisory Panel to the UN Global Study on Violence Against Children
Member: ESAR Consultation Steering Committee
[email protected]
Telephone +27 (0)21 712 2330
Fax: +27 (0)21 712 2365